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March 7 2014

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Bad Medical Bill Progresses in Michigan

Sen. Rick Jones

In Michigan on Tuesday, Sen. Rick Jones’sSB 783 passed the Senate with a vote of 31 to 7. This bill — which is now pending in the House Judiciary Committee — would allow landlords to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation and smoking in the privacy of one’s residence. Meanwhile, more sensible bills including HB 4271 and HB 5104, which protect patient access, currently languish in committee.

This bill would allow landlords to prohibit marijuana cultivation as well as smoking — but not vaporizing — when a lease specifically limits these activities. Those who violate a lease would be subject to sanctions, taking patient rights backwards to the days before the current law was passed in 2008. This bill would limit these rights without addressing fundamental problem in Michigan’s law — the lack of safe and regular access through state-legal provisioning centers and protections for non-smoked forms of the medicine.